Maia is the Goddess of Midwifery and the month of May is named for her.

In Greek mythology, Maia is a goddess who is the eldest of the Seven Sisters, represented by the seven stars of the Pleiades, also known as the Seven Midwives.

Maia was also called the Grandmother of Magic as she was the mother of Hermes, the winged messenger and Greek god of alchemy. She lived in a cave, in the mountains, reserved from civilization, where she midwifed and healed those who came to her. Maia is an ancient archetype of the shamanic midwife.

In Greek, maia means to midwife, or to bring to light what is within.

The mauietic model of learning, was developed by Socrates who’s mother was a midwife, or maia, in Ancient Greece. Socrates was a philosopher and teacher who posed questions and philosophical issues and led his students to come up with the answers for themselves honoring that we all have the answers within, we are each our own experts.

Socrates described the maieutic style of learning as the art of midwifery focused upon the soul rather than the body.

Socrates was inspired by his teacher Plato, who theory of recollection posed that the soul is immortal and all-knowing, that we forget when we come into this life, and that through personal inquiry we can recall the wisdom that is within each of us.

As a life-long learner, I have used the maieutic model of learning to connect with my soul, and gain clarity and confidence in my mind and heart. My favorite way to bring consciously tap into the well of wisdom that our soul’s have access to is through journaling and autonomic writing.

Journaling is a powerful personal process that can effectively midwife and bring to light the wisdom that you already have within.

Through writing and resourcing from what you already know you will find the answers within to what ever situations, community, and work you are called to do.

The art of writing is also an ancient practice that creates many neurological connections within the brain that synchronize the information we have learned, and deepens our awareness of what we already know creating confidence, wisdom, and experience. There are many more neural connections created in the brain through writing on paper, rather than typing, due to the greater amount of fine motor skills needed in the hands, thus I always recommend conscious journaling practices to be done analog style.

When we physically write our goals, visions, plans, and knowledge out on paper we also send a message to the universe the magnetizes and creates our vision into reality - we give life to what is within through our words.

Thus, journaling is a powerful practice that I endorse highly for personal development, for professional success, and lifelong learning.

Autonomic writing is the practice of consciously relaxing the mind and hand, asking yourself a question, and then allowing yourself to just automatically write what flows from the pen onto paper. This is an amazing process that with practice can bring forth incredible insights of the spirit.

Journaling is a profound method of intercommunication with ourselves through conscious writing to bring forth the ideas and knowledge we have within. This practice can help us to clarify our passions, dreams, insights, desires and self-knowing.

Through tuning in to the wisdom we already have within, we can bring light to our soul intelligence and give birth to our dreams! We all have so much magic, mystery and depth of wisdom within our bodies, hearts, minds and souls. Through accessing this deeper knowing we can activate our divine mission and follow our soul's calling.

What is your soul whispering to you? What desires do you wish to bring to light into this world?

You have in your soul the knowledge, wisdom, guidance, and resources that you need to accomplish your goals, learn everything you need, and give birth to your dreams!